The American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) said it was happy that no one was seriously injured when an AH-64E Apache helicopter purchased from the US crashed into a residential building on Friday.
The AIT, which represents US interests in Taiwan in the absence of diplomatic ties, said it understood that the Taiwanese government is conducting a thorough investigation into the accident and would have no further comment or speculation at this time.
The AH-64E chopper crash-landed on top of a three-story building in Taoyuan County’s Longtan Township (龍潭), resulting in minor injuries to the two pilots and damage to several apartments.
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Hsueh Ling (薛凌) said an AH-64E helicopter costs nearly NT$2 billion (US$64 million) and urged the Ministry of National Defense to demand that the US compensate Taiwan with a new AH-64E.
Hsueh said the aircraft was flying normally when it suddenly lost power, leaving the pilots no time to respond before it crashed into the block of apartments.
The army said it has formed a task force to investigate the cause of the accident, adding that the warranty period is one year and the military took delivery of the craft in November last year.
It will have to determine if the mishap was caused by human error or mechanical failure before taking any further action.
The Control Yuan — the government body responsible for investigating and censuring civil servants and public agencies — said it will look into the accident to see if related departments or personnel should be held accountable.
Taiwan yesterday condemned the recent increase in Chinese coast guard-escorted fishing vessels operating illegally in waters around the Pratas Islands (Dongsha Islands, 東沙群島) in the South China Sea. Unusually large groupings of Chinese fishing vessels began to appear around the islands on Feb. 15, when at least six motherships and 29 smaller boats were sighted, the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) said in a news release. While CGA vessels were dispatched to expel the Chinese boats, Chinese coast guard ships trespassed into Taiwan’s restricted waters and unsuccessfully attempted to interfere, the CGA said. Due to the provocation, the CGA initiated an operation to increase
CHANGING LANDSCAPE: Many of the part-time programs for educators were no longer needed, as many teachers obtain a graduate degree before joining the workforce, experts said Taiwanese universities this year canceled 86 programs, Ministry of Education data showed, with educators attributing the closures to the nation’s low birthrate as well as shifting trends. Fifty-three of the shuttered programs were part-time postgraduate degree programs, about 62 percent of the total, the most in the past five years, the data showed. National Taiwan Normal University (NTNU) discontinued the most part-time master’s programs, at 16: chemistry, life science, earth science, physics, fine arts, music, special education, health promotion and health education, educational psychology and counseling, education, design, Chinese as a second language, library and information sciences, mechatronics engineering, history, physical education
The Chinese military has boosted its capability to fight at a high tempo using the element of surprise and new technology, the Ministry of National Defense said in the Quadrennial Defense Review (QDR) published on Monday last week. The ministry highlighted Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) developments showing significant changes in Beijing’s strategy for war on Taiwan. The PLA has made significant headway in building capabilities for all-weather, multi-domain intelligence, surveillance, operational control and a joint air-sea blockade against Taiwan’s lines of communication, it said. The PLA has also improved its capabilities in direct amphibious assault operations aimed at seizing strategically important beaches,
‘MALIGN PURPOSE’: Governments around the world conduct espionage operations, but China’s is different, as its ultimate goal is annexation, a think tank head said Taiwan is facing a growing existential threat from its own people spying for China, experts said, as the government seeks to toughen measures to stop Beijing’s infiltration efforts and deter Taiwanese turncoats. While Beijing and Taipei have been spying on each other for years, experts said that espionage posed a bigger threat to Taiwan due to the risk of a Chinese attack. Taiwan’s intelligence agency said China used “diverse channels and tactics” to infiltrate the nation’s military, government agencies and pro-China organizations. The main targets were retired and active members of the military, persuaded by money, blackmail or pro-China ideology to steal
RSS